Journal #3 for Boom and Bust

I become a little scared at the idea of the company owner looking out for my interest. That's not what will help his salary. He will reduce my pay because it would help him economically. This would not sound like a good situation because there's no room for objection unless I am to quit.The labor agitators benefit from helping me financially, while to the company owner I'm just another small worker.

This sounds a lot like a monopoly situation on the workers side. I only have one source to worry about my money. I simply have to trust the man that would benefit from not paying me to pay me the proper ammount of money to live.

I would very quickly start trying to look for another job, even if it is in another factory. I would look but not touch until my wages start to decrease. If nothing else is available, I would hope that he doesn't decrease my pay, even though I know that's what will eventually happen.

I wouldn't strike. I know that people who strike often end up being much worse than they already are. Instead I would raise awareness and tell as many people about it as people, so that people on the outside can help.

Mexican Sweatshop Worker.

I wake up, hesitant to make too much noise for the others around me. Twelve in a room isn't very comfy, but I manage.
I wake up earlier than most of my workers because I walk to my job; I don't have a car or a bike. All the money I make goes to feeding me and my family and getting by with paying my share of the rent. After walking about ten miles I get to the factory I work in at six o' clock, a.m. I help make T-shirts.
I immediately get sent to my part of the assembly line, folding clothes for shipping. I'm one of the lucky ones. Just yesterday some guy lost his hand while working the fabric machine. He simply held on to the cloth for too long. He got fired that day for "malpractice with the machine." Not even two weeks notice. I would be angry, but this is the only job i can get at the moment, and I need to work to survive, so speaking up to the boss is not an option.
I worked through lunch again today. I figure with more production that happens because of me, maybe I'll earn extra money for something.
I got off work at eight o' clock p.m. I really wish our hours were what counted in the pay instead of production. I would have a lot more money if that was the case.
I make dinner for my family coming home from their jobs. Then we socialize a little, and I shower a little and go to bed at ten.

19th Century invention

Without the invention of the battery, I'm not too sure how today's life would be able to work the way it does.
Without the battery, I wouldn't wake up to an alarm clock every morning. Without my alarm clock I'm always too tired to wake up. We wouldn't be able to tell time the way we do, for that matter. Cd players wouldn't be able to work away from an outlet. Pretty much anything that is electrical would not exist, or would but without efficiency.
Although, hindsight kind of makes me wish the battery wasn't invented. Without my alarm clock maybe my sleeping patterns would be more steady, causing less health problems. Maybe without the option of meesing around with technology for hours on end would increase work and production. Maybe the ideal of things being "easier" for us only caused prolonged hardship. I guess what I mean to say is the idea of living without the power of a battery is unimaginable, and maybe that isn't such a good thing that we have something so easy to take for granted.